Thank you all for posting - I am going to use this info! For those of us who only have youngsters at the moment it is like swimming upstream to keep a clean house - but I am teaching mine to be helpers - I think taking the time to let them help is an investment for the future when they will be more efficent. For right now I am just enjoying this special time with my LOs and trying not to worry too much about a spotless house!

So very true!! My older children now-17, 11, 10, 8 and 7 have routine chores that do not change. My oldest does her laundry and her 2 year old brothers. My 10 year old does laundry for her room-which includes the girls and they all fold. My 11 yr old son does his and his 4 year old brothers. They fold it themselves and put it away. After every meal, one sweeps, one cleans high chairs, and one cleans table and chairs. The for the evening, I rotate an area. So each child will have an area of the home to make sure it is perfect. My areas are: Living room, books(bookshelf), studyroom, gameroom/dining room. After they finish that, they all go to their room and clean their rooms. I give them 30 minutes, at which time my phone alarm alerts us to inspection time. I have found that this is the most important aspect. If I slack on inspection that chores get sloppy FAST. Or if I give them too much time to complete their chores, they ended up talking and forgetting the job ahead of them. Each child gets a "check mark" for their area being clean and then for their room. If the area does not earn a check then of course it's 10 minutes off of the weekly free time and also an addition of a chore-right then. I have a list of extras to assign. This way they realize that sloppy work, earns more work. At the end of the week, these add up to free time such as ipad, video games, Leapfrog, computer time.

I have also found that limiting tv time-almost to nothing actually calms the kids. of course, after the first couple weeks of withdrawal. Now, when we do a movie or show, they feel so privileged that they don't even move during it! It also keeps me moving and working and seems to add more hours to the day. Instead I play Christian music or classical. Their imaginations are better and they stay outside to play longer now.

__________________Misty=Follower of Christ, homeschool, QF momma to 9 AND helpmeet to my best friend::